‘Homeless’ councillor is axed by his own party

John A. MacInnes

A councillor who has come under fire recently over allegations he is being housed in a homeless flat by ERC, has been dumped by the SNP.

Vincent Waters, who is currently a councillor for ward three, Giffnock and Thornliebank has failed the selection process and will not be chosen as an SNP councillor in East Renfrewshire.

The councillor had until 4pmon Tuesday to be named on the list of candidates at the final call for valid nominations to be handed to the secretary of the council’s liason committee. The Extra has been given sight of the list of candidates who have made the shortlist, of which there are nine names for the local area with seven being selected by ballot to go forward to the local elections in May.

We can confirm that Councillor Waters name does not appear.

Despite rumours that he had approached the Green Party, a spokesman told us: “We have not received any approach from SNP councillor Vincent Waters to join our party.”

Cllr Waters was forced out of the SNP’s Eastwood branch in 2015 following claims of bullying and intimidation, and just as members moved to take a vote on removing him as the branch convenor he resigned with immediate effect.

An SNP spokesperson said: “We are not in a position to comment on an individual case”.

The Extra broke the news about the councillor’s claim he was homeless three weeks ago, and since then there have been numerous calls for the situation to be fully investigated, following our revelation that Waters lists three properties on his register of interests.

Last week we told how one reader was considering reporting Waters to Police Scotland.